Residents pedal their way to work in large enough numbers to rank Boulder as the third most bike-commuting city of its size in the U.S., reports SaveOnEnergy.com. “Biking is a way of life in Boulder,” the report says, citing the cities’ more than 300 bikeways labeled with green bike signs and the active biking community. Cities were grouped by size according to the U.S. Census listing of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas, resulting in Boulder being categorized as a ‘large’ city. Eugene, OR, and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA, round out the top three in the large cities category, ranking No. 1 and 2, respectively, with 4.37 and 4.36 percent of the population choosing to bike to work. The top two cities inched past Boulders 4.20 percent of bike commuters, according to the SaveOnEnergy.com’s analysis of survey results collected from the U.S. Census over a five-year period. Medium-sized cities outperform large and small cities in terms of the population percentage that chooses to commute by bike. The top three medium-sized cities for numbers of people biking to work are Corvallis, OR; Key West, FL; and Laramie, WY, with 8.06, 7.56 and 5.85 percent, respectively. Top U.S. Cities for Bike Commuting Image courtesy of SaveOnEnergy.com For Boulderites, biking is the most popular means of green transportation, with citizens choosing two-wheeled transit over walking, carpooling or public transportation, says the SaveOnEnergy.com report on top-ranking cities in each transportation category. Among small cities, Steamboat Springs, CO, took the No. 2 spot. While Steamboat Springs is touted for its skiing, the city now is also known for cycling and has been designated a Gold-Level Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists. Boulder earned a Platinum-Level Bicycle Friendly Community award from the organization from 2008-2010 and 2012-2015 because of its multimodal corridors for pedestrian, bus, bike and auto connections. The League of American Bicyclists reports Boulder’s population of commuting bicyclists to be 10.5 percent. League data is based on estimates provided by the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The popularity of biking to work will be evident on June 22 for the 2016 Bike to Work Day. Then, Boulder citizens will pedal their way to work in droves, if participation keeps pace with 2015. Last June, 5,456 people who live or work in Boulder registered for Bike to Work Day. An even greater number – 8,400 – are estimated to have ridden in Boulder that day, according to the Bike to Work Day Boulder’s website. For the full SaveOnEnergy.com report, visit https://www.saveonenergy.com/data-hub/top-us-cities-biking/. To register for Bike to Work Day and Month, visit http://biketoworkday.us/user/register. For the more about Boulder’s Platinum-Level award by the League of American Bicyclists, visit http://bikeleague.org/bfa/profile?url=http://profiles.bikeleague.org/bfc-award-p151104-formId-222-id-52.
RE/MAX of Boulder Real Estate Blog
* Article originally posted on RE/MAX Boulder website at http://www.boulderco.com/blog/
